Tuesday, May 21, 2013

(Yeah, I know, you're probably wondering why he isn't named some random adjective, but there's an explanation for that in The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle).

Occupation: Expert (at whatever you need done)Affiliation: Sylvarian DwarvesKingdom of Origin: SylvariaCurrent Residence: A hovel in the Sylvarian forest just outside the Woodland Estate that once belonged to him and his fellow dwarfs.Other Known Dwarfs: Flik, Frak, Frid, Ferd, Flup, ForkLongtime Foe: Duncan (a.k.a., Dumb-can, Dunce-man, the Idiot Prince)Likes: Snow White, backpacks, pluralizing with a VDislikes: Strangers who ask questions, historical re-enactments, humans who squat to talk to himSignature Move: The Whipping Pinwheel Ax-SpinQuote: “Why are you still talking to me?”Little Known Fact: People assume that Frank is the leader of the Sylvarian dwarfs, as he is the one who most frequently communicates with humans. In reality, he is the lowest ranked. Because Sylvarian dwarfs hate communicating with humans.

A bit about the series:

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change.

Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, the princes stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it’s up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be.

Want a chance to win a copy of The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle? Or how about $200 to spend on books? Those are pretty much rhetorical questions because, I mean, really, who would say no?

Walden Pond Press is awesomely providing a bucket load of prizes! Each day during the blog tour the first three entrants will receive signed hardcover copies of The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle. THEN everyone who enters will have a chance to win a $200 gift card to the bookstore of your choice!Click HERE to enter!

You'll be directed to Facebook where you can enter the secret code (Prince Charming) for a chance to win!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
Series: #2 in the Castle Glower series
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 235
Received: Review copy from publisher
Rating: 4 out of 5 starsGoodreads page

Summary

From Goodreads:

A castle that is
constantly rearranging itself, and a young royal family sworn to protect
it... Celie, Rolf, and their beloved Castle Glower are back in this
exciting sequel.

Strange things are afoot in Castle Glower: new
rooms, corridors, and even stables keep arriving, even when they aren't
needed. Celie's brother Bran, the new Royal Wizard, has his hands full
cataloging an entire storeroom full of exotic and highly dangerous
weapons, while Celie has her hands full . . . raising the creature that
hatches from a giant egg she finds! Will they be able to find out
what's making the Castle behave this way in time?

Review

Good books keep me entertained from start to finish, but great books make me think about them when I'm not reading them. Wednesdays in the Tower hovers between good and great for me.

The Good

The good comes from the characters and the overall plot. I really like spending time with Princess Celie and her family, but they don't leave a lasting impression.

Still, the time I spend with them is always fun. Celie is a likable main character who strikes that nice balance between intrepid and daring while still remaining true to her age. I liked how she turned to her older siblings (well, mostly her older brother) for guidance when the situations became a little too big for her to handle on her own.

I really like reading about loving families (see The Penderwicks) and as long as they're interacting in a loving, fun way then I'm usually pretty happy. Celie's family largely fulfills what I'm looking for in family books.

I say "largely" because I can't say "totally." I don't feel like I've gotten a chance to truly know any of the characters outside of Celie. True, she's the main character and the story is told from her limited perspective, but it would have been nice to have explored her siblings a little more. Lilah seemed especially neglected, though I did very much appreciate the development of Pogue Parry (his secret is so wonderful!)

The plot overall was nice and enjoyable, but again it didn't grab me. There isn't a whole lot of action and while the plot of raising the animal that hatches from the egg was sweet, I wasn't totally engaged.

The Great

Two things made Wednesdays in the Tower rise above for me. First, the castle. The entire concept of Castle Glower is brilliant! I will read every single book in this series just so I can spend more time in that castle. I want to make it real and I want to live there. Put Castle Glower right up there with Hogwarts, Manderly, and Facade in the category of Fictional Places I Wish Were Real.

I'd be totally lying if I said I didn't spend at least a little time daydreaming up what rooms I'd want Castle Glower to create for me. Okay, okay, I've spent a lot of time.

I mean, the rooms shift around and new rooms are always appearing and disappearing. How cool is that?! I'm a big fan of secret passageways and finding new rooms in big houses, but a house that actually creates new rooms? And rooms that are stocked with all sorts of cool things like Room of Hidden Things in Hogwarts? SIGN ME UP NOW!

But, how in the world does this work? Why it is happening? These were things I sort of wondered about after reading the first book, but the second book actually spins out that mystery and, finally, answers it!

And the answer is totally worth it! Plus, it also sets up book three for all sorts of adventures and I can't wait to go on them.

The second thing that made me think about Wednesdays in the Tower when I wasn't reading it was the history of a certain mythological creature that is somehow connected to the castle's history.

I was so into the story and trying to dig into the history of all this (I LOVE history) that I kept having to fight the urge to start my own internet research (and, um, yeah, Wikipedia isn't all that helpful when trying to research fictional histories like this). Which is to say, I was really into it.

Bottom line

This one ended much more cliffhangery than the last book and I'm really wishing I had book three on me now. It's set up for all sorts of adventure and history sleuthing and I can't wait to find out what happens next.

So, yes, I will be continuing with the series for sure. Readers who enjoyed the first book will probably like the second just as much. While I don't think it's entirely necessary to have read the first book in order to understand this one, I do think it would help and I recommend reading them all and in order.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

A castle that is
constantly rearranging itself, and a young royal family sworn to protect
it... Celie, Rolf, and their beloved Castle Glower are back in this
exciting sequel.

Strange things are afoot in Castle Glower: new
rooms, corridors, and even stables keep arriving, even when they aren't
needed. Celie's brother Bran, the new Royal Wizard, has his hands full
cataloging an entire storeroom full of exotic and highly dangerous
weapons, while Celie has her hands full . . . raising the creature that
hatches from a giant egg she finds! Will they be able to find out
what's making the Castle behave this way in time?

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Jessica Day George is one of my favorite authors ever. Family, humor, sweet romance, fantasy mysteries, plucky heroines, and heartwarming friendships always make an appearance.

Princess Celie's adventures are no exception and I am over the moon in love with the latest installment Wednesdays in the Tower. Jessica was kind enough to stop by today to answer some of my questions.

Romantic leads like:
. . . er, there is a cute young blacksmith, but . . . well, Celie’s a bit young for him!

About Wednesdays in the Tower:

A castle that is constantly rearranging itself, and a young royal family sworn to protect it... Celie, Rolf, and their beloved Castle Glower are back in this exciting sequel.

Strange things are afoot in Castle Glower: new rooms, corridors, and even stables keep arriving, even when they aren't needed. Celie's brother Bran, the new Royal Wizard, has his hands full cataloguing an entire storeroom full of exotic and highly dangerous weapons, while Celie has her hands full . . . raising the creature that hatches from a giant egg she finds! Will they be able to find out what's making the Castle behave this way in time?

Author bio:

Jessica Day George likes chocolate, knitting, books, travel, movies, dragons, horses, dogs, and her family. These are all things to keep in mind if you ever meet her. For instance, you could bring her chocolate to make the meeting go more smoothly. You could also talk about how adorable her children are, even if you have never seen them. You could discuss dog breeds (she has a Maltese named Pippin, and grew up with a poodle mix and a Brittany Spaniel). You could talk about Norway, and how it's the Greatest Place On Earth, and Germany, The Second Greatest Place On Earth. You could ask her about yarn, and indicate a willingness to learn to knit your own socks, if you can't already do so.

And, well, you could talk about books. Jessica's books, other people's books. It's really all about the books. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, Friends, family, school, they were just obstacles in the way of getting more books.

She would like it if books came with chocolate to eat while reading them.

-Goodreads

Thank you so much for stopping by, Jessica!

You can't see it, but I'm pretty much dying of happiness over here because I am so delighted to be able to host Jessica Day George! Is it not already clear how much I love her books? They're total comfort reads. Like the book form of hot chocolate or fuzzy sweaters or puppies.

I also have to agree with Jessica on a bunch of her answers. Her books totally remind me of Howl's Moving Castle and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles books (though I think I like Jessica's books the best).

Also, I would LOVE to pick Bran's brain (he's a wizard AND he's super nice AND he gets to spend a lot of time sorting through all kinds of magical objects in a really awesome room), but I'd also love to spend some time chatting with a certain cute young blacksmith (his true professional field is squee-out-loud perfect).

The bouncy floor room sounds really fun, but I love the sound of the room Bran is exploring. Ooh, and the room of cloth. Though some of the tower rooms sound so peaceful and perfect for reading. Which, wow, I can't even begin to imagine the library possibilities of a castle that accommodates your wishes!

Have you read Wednesdays in the Tower?
How would you answer these questions?

If you lived in a castle that created new rooms all the time, what type of room would you want to explore?
(Remember, no spoilers please!)